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Non Westy: Max5 (Mazda Mx-5 Race Series) Blog


AdamR

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Foreword: This is a copy and paste from a different forum, so it may seem a little out of context at points, but hopefully it will be useful info to anyone thinking of doing some racing, but not sure where to start (like me a few weeks ago!).

Original post date: 23rd April:

Hello all,

After reading Alan's blog here, I decided it would be good to do something similar, since the amount of info available for people looking to get into Max5 Racing seems to be relatively thin on the ground and/or spread about. I'm going to try and document my 'journey' in one thread, with all the things I needed to consider and buy easily visible.

So, here goes...!

I'm fairly new to MX-5s, got one at the start of the year and have done one trackday at Blyton in it (

- me driving from 7:13 onwards), but have done about a dozen track days over the last couple of years. I still find them great fun, but I am one of those people who likes to try and better myself, and learn new stuff.

My thought process went something like this:

Trackdays are great, but what's next?

Sprints? Hmm. Not great value in terms of £/minute of driving. Need all the safety kit too which isn't all that cheap.

Racing? Hmm. Can end up a bit 'wallet racing'. Not keen on that. Still need all the safety kit... Much better £/minute than sprints though, and can always use the car for trackdays too.

So - racing it is. What's a relatively cheap series where the cars are controlled by fairly strict regulations, and it's not going to just end up with a 'who can spend the most money wins' scenario? Looked at stuff like Formula Vee (single seaters, based on the old aircooled VW Beetle), Formula Ford, Trackday Trophy... then realised I had already driven an MX-5 on track. and it was a bl**** brilliant car.

I found out that Ma5da and Max5 were the two series for MX-5s, and while both seem to use a very similar car there appear to be subtle differences. Ma5da has televised races, more sponsorship and seems to be more competitive, whereas Max5 have smaller grids and it looks a bit more chilled out.*

(*Just my feelings after doing some research - I can sense some 'tension' between the two championships which I don't want to delve into or drag up!)

For my first racing experiences, Max5 definitely seemed the way to go. With so much to learn already, having less other cars muscling their way past certainly seems like it will make it a bit less stressful!

Ok, so I've decided which series to enter. Time to start looking at cars. Prices seem to vary from around £5k up to £7k, depending on how new the car is and what spec it's got.

All the cars eligible for the series have the same roll cage, tyres, wheels, suspension, no upgraded anti roll bars, very few engine modifications are allowed, no bodywork mods (splitters, flat floors, etc), a plumbed in fire extinguisher, standard calipers and discs etc, but bits like the harnesses, seat, condition of bodywork, exhaust, previous race results and so on seem to dictate the prices.

The spec the cars have to meet is listed in the regulations document, which can be found here.

After a bit more research, I found out there were cars available to 'Arrive & Drive', at pretty reasonable prices. 'rodders' on the forum (Paul Roddison), who runs Roddisons Motorsport, is well worth speaking to if you are interested in this.

Having spoken with a couple of other guys who compete in Max5, I hadn't heard anything but huge praise for everything Paul does, and so far my contact with him has been extremely positive too. Even if it's a weekend or evening, he is always happy to chat!

Anyway, I looked at the costings involved to give it a try for one race or so (more on that later), and decided that I would just go for it. The cars, although initially they seem relatively expensive for a 20-year old vehicle, are extremely well specced and they hold their value amazingly providing you don't bend them!

I'd posted in the Max5 Racing thread saying I was interested in having a go, and Chris (SEO Musketeer) sent me a PM and offered further help (it's his first season too), and a few other chaps were also straight in there with their phone numbers for chats and assistance.

The guys usually get a few paddock passes for each race weekend and these were offered to me free of charge so I could come along and watch. Very friendly, thank you - exactly what you need when trying to get into something completely new!

After an hour on the phone (and a load of PMs) to Chris and a good half hour to Paul (who informed me of a car he had for sale...), my mind was made up. I wanted to get into Max5. You only live once, and that can be taken away/jeopardised so flippin' quickly (this last year has taught me that), so I decided it was all systems go.

Some thinking and an excited sleepless night later, I sent Paul a text asking if I would be able to leave a deposit on the car he had for sale:

75281_258565730906333_179295178833389_503481_1056322712_n.jpg

From here there was no going back! Time to research into what licenses and safety stuff I would need...

I'm still not 100% on the procedure for getting licensed and registered, but it seems to be something like this (anyone feel free to correct me! Don't want to be responsible for misleading information):

- MSA 'Go Racing' pack: £65

- ARDS Test (for National B License): ~£250

- Medical (some tracks have the facility, or your GP): ~£50-100

Edit: Quick update - the medical should be done BEFORE the ARDS test, and the certificate taken with you to the ARDS test so they can sign it all off properly.

Once the above three are done, send the forms off to the MSA with a cheque for ~£51 and your license arrives a few weeks later. Until you hit 45, when you need a yearly medical, it's just the £51 a year fee to keep the license active, which isn't too bad.

Also needed is Max5 championship registration: £75, details are on max5racing.com.

So, my pack is now on the way and I'll be booking an ARDS asap. Looking to try and race at Anglesey on 16th & 17th June, I know the circuit(s) pretty well already so I figure that will reduce the amount of learning... Gonna be tight on time though!

Kit you'll need:

- Snell 2005 (or above) approved helmet. The V2 Pro is about the cheapest available at ~£150 IIRC.

- Race suit, gloves and boots to meet FIA 8856-2000. These don't have an expiry date (but scrutineers could refuse if they look too tatty), so you can get 2nd hand stuff pretty cheap. Also recommended are Nomex (fireproof materal) socks, balaclava and underwear. You can get this stuff from places like Demon Tweeks, plays-kool.co.uk or eBay.

I managed to find a chap who had recently given up sprinting so did me a good deal for all his old gear - £400 for everything required (not bad considering the helmet was less than a year old and £750s worth when new!). Trawl a few sprint club forums and something will pop up I'm sure.

Next: Go and watch at Croft this coming weekend, get the car, try and get it on a track day before Anglesey, and get my ARDS passed. I'll try and update this thread as and when anything interesting happens :)

24th April: Small update:

MSA pack came in today, got doctors appointment booked for tomorrow morning for my medical, and then looking to book ARDS test at Oulton on 1st May. Bit of a whirlwind journey but I'm loving it driving.gif

25th April update:

Well, that's the medical over and done with. £30 lighter for 15 mins work, but was cheaper than I was expecting given some of the other prices I've seen!

Used my 'normal' GP (I say 'normal' as I haven't seen one for 11 years!) and everything was fine. Was pretty nervous beforehand as I had no idea what to expect... Tests were:

- Check heart/chest with stethoscope

- Poke stomach (assuming checking for evidence of any hernia etc)

- Test eyes with and without any corrective lenses

- Check medical records for field of vision, colour blindness and any other physical/mental things that could affect the applicaton

- Blood pressure and heart rate

- Provide a urine sample (which was tested within a few seconds so can't have been anything serious)

All of these are on the form but I wasn't sure exactly how they'd get checked, so hopefully that will help someone in future.

Only thing the GP wasn't sure about was my sight without glasses - 6/36 and 6/24 - so I'm gonna give the MSA a shout to make sure I'm still ok to continue...

Edit: Just called the MSA, uncorrected vision is no problem at all, they are mainly concerned with corrected vision scores. For this I was more than adequate at 6/6, and probably would have got to 6/5 if I was given the chance. Details here: http://www.nanyang.c...ision_test.html

Will keep updating as and when things happen, if there is interest.

Cheers!

Adam

PS: If you read all that, I owe you a biscuit :t-up:

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I claim my biscuit ;)

Seriously though, an interesting read, good luck with your ARDS test next week, and keep us updated; it makes an interesting counterpoint to the build threads.

:d

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Please state your preferred variety :d

Thanks - appreciated. Apparently it is pretty straightforward, but I'm sure I'll dangler it up somehow :laugh:

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Interesting read :)

I read all of it apart from the content in the hyperlinks (hob nob for me).

Will keep my eye on this to see how it goes, interested in doing something similar myself.

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From posts on other forums regarding ARDS tests, the main points seem to be:

1/ learn the flags

2/ drive smoothly taking right lines, don't try to set a lap record ;)

3/ learn the flags

4/ learn the flags

good luck :yes:

my first race licence was in 1973 so I never took an ARDS test :oops: I still have the licence complete with photo of a long haired spotty faced geezer.... don't know who he is, can't be me surely :o:blush::down:

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Interesting read :)

I read all of it apart from the content in the hyperlinks (hob nob for me).

Will keep my eye on this to see how it goes, interested in doing something similar myself.

Thanks. I'll get the Hobnobs on order :t-up: Obviously I'm not the best qualified, but if you do have any questions don't hesitate to give me a shout.

Interesting read, keep the updates coming and good luck!

Thank you!

From posts on other forums regarding ARDS tests, the main points seem to be:

1/ learn the flags

2/ drive smoothly taking right lines, don't try to set a lap record ;)

3/ learn the flags

4/ learn the flags

good luck :yes:

my first race licence was in 1973 so I never took an ARDS test :oops: I still have the licence complete with photo of a long haired spotty faced geezer.... don't know who he is, can't be me surely :o:blush::down:

Haha, yeah that's what I could make of it too... Any further tips from an old hand appreciated ;)

Thanks!

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Speak to Nikpro. He has lots of experience with MX5 racing I belive and I belive looked/looks after one of the front runners

Good luck

John

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Yep in previous seasons, Blink Motorsport have been a very competitive team, with Richard as a front running driver. Richard comes to Cheshire meets when he can, as well as Fraser.

Currently, they're looking after some front running cars/drivers and supplying engines/heads to a lot of the other teams.

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And this was meant to be a (relatively) cheap attempt at racing... :down: Haha. VERY determined I won't get upgradeitis with this one!

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:laugh: :laugh: :laugh: :laugh:

Good luck with that!

No, really ;):d

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:(

To be fair, the car is capable - it won on it's first outing with a hire driver in the seat - so I have no excuses for new bits...!

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Not sure which of the two series they went to, but I know John and Will Chappell went MX5 racing after several years in Westys.

On the ARDS test my experience is 15 years old, but most of the non-flag questions on the test were fairly common sense, eg

Your car is on fire, do you?

a) continue racing

b) pull into the pits the next time round

c) pull off the track near a marshal's post.

The instructors were keen to get you to pass as well - it's only a seriously bad showing on the track that would get you to fail (and that means dangerous, not slow). As said before, follow reasonable lines, watch your mirrors for overtaking cars and, OK, don't be 'granny' slow (at the risk of offending any grannies on this site). I think their view (quite rightly) is that the first thing you could do after getting a license is turn up on a test day and end up on track with (almost literally) a GT1 sportscar - who wouldn't want to be tripping over you.

Good luck.

Hint: the answer would be c). :)

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Thanks for that - it seems to be very similar to everything else I have read, and it does sounds fairly common sense/show you can control a car (albeit not right at the limit). Reassuring to hear the same from everyone, so cheers again!

I've booked the test for Tuesday, hopefully there will be a positive update to this thread Tuesday afternoon...

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Was very kindly sent a free ticket/paddock pass and car parking pass for this weekend's races at Croft. I went up yesterday to have a nosy round. It was a brilliant day - a huge thank you to everyone who made me feel welcome. I have never felt so integrated into a group of people so quickly, plenty of friendly banter and chat!

Pics...

Everyone set up, bit grey in the morning.

01.jpg

Phil (Don Phil?) repairing his rear light.

02.jpg

Chris, Paul and Jeremy (?) chatting.

03.jpg

Getting ready to go out for quali.

04.jpg

05.jpg

06.jpg

And in action! (Check out Phil's front offside light, haha)

07.jpg

08.jpg

Quali results

09.jpg

Jeremy tinkering.

10.jpg

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